MLB Catcher Who Knelt During Anthem, Is Arrested on Gun Charge

Bruce Maxwell #13 of the Oakland Athletics kneels in protest next to teammate Mark Canha #20 duing the singing of the National Anthem prior to the start of the game against the Texas Rangers at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on Sept. 24, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. ( Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

One player in Major League Baseball (MLB) has knelt during the national anthem, continuing the controversy kicked off in the NFL last year—but now, that same player is making headlines for a new reason.

Bruce Maxwell, catcher for the Oakland Athletics, has been arrested on a gun charge, Fox News reported.

The catcher allegedly pointed a gun at a food delivery woman in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Scottsdale police said that officers were called to Maxwell’s home on Saturday, Oct. 28, after reports about a person with a gun.

He was arrested at 6:08 pm after the female food delivery driver told police Maxwell had pointed a gun at her, according to TMZ Sports.

Maxwell was booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct, according to Fox News.

Bruce Maxwell. (Scottsdale Police Department)

As of writing, Maxwell is held in custody pending an initial appearance in court.

He was expected to be Oakland’s starting catcher next year. The 26-year-old had hit .237 with three home runs and 22 RBIs in 76 games this season.

Just last week Maxwell was involved in another incident during a visit to his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, claiming that he was refused service at a restaurant because of his anthem protest. But a waiter said he made the whole story up.

Matt Henry, the 42-year-old waiter, told a completely different version of what happened. The employee at the Keegan’s Public House told Fox News that “This all started because I carded his friend who wanted to order a beer.”

“He is outright lying. This is really upsetting as he was given full service, I didn’t even know who Bruce Maxwell was,” Henry told the network.

Henry, an Alabama native, said Maxwell was dining with local Democratic councilman Devyn Keith and another friend who provided an expired ID, which prompted the server to refuse him a drink. This apparently upset the friend who followed him into the kitchen.

“He asked me, ‘Don’t you know who Bruce Maxwell is?’ and told me I was making everyone feel uncomfortable. Nobody was even paying attention to them,” Henry claimed.

“I didn’t know anything about him or the kneeling. All I know is a friend of mine 15 years ago lost his job for serving someone a drink who happened to be underage, so if anyone looks under 30, I’m going to card them,” Henry told Fox News.

Then Henry said the councilman complained to the restaurant’s manager about Maxwell feeling uncomfortable. He said the manager just switched him to another table and that it was “no big deal.”

Anne Whalen, the restaurant manager on duty that day, told Fox News that the story of Maxwell’s being spread in the media could not be further from the truth.

“Matt came to me and told me that a guy wanted a beer but his ID was not valid and I told him he absolutely could not give it to him, we can go to jail for that in the state of Alabama,” Whalen told Fox News.

“It was his friend causing all the fuss, none of us even knew who this baseball player was. I told him I had no idea who he was going on about,” she said. “Eventually Matt just asked if we could put another server on the table so I did. … I can’t believe the story.”

Whalen said out of the three men, Maxwell was the only one who had a valid ID, hence he was the only one they served a beer to.

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